rocks

[ricksconnected]

i have some rock that was live once upon a time.
from what i can tell, its very clean. its been stored in fresh water for months. been in there so long the fresh water has evaporated.
how could i go about putting this stuff in my exsisting reef tank?
not looking to put it all in at once ok. maybe 3 or 5 pieces.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Rick...got a rubbermaid or some other type of plastic container? Just mix up some saltwater...put it in there with a light over it. You'll know soon enough if there's anything left on it. If not...it should be good to go in the tank.

 

[ricksconnected]

im sure theres nothing on it jeff.
this stuff has been in 5 gal buckets in the back of my truck for
6 months or more. one bucket had water in it the other was 1/3 full. neither have had water in them in 3 or 4 months.
most of it is dry as a bone. i did find a couple pieces that seemed
still moist. as for hitchikers i doubt there could be any.
i just want to know how to clean it up just for extra measure and how i should put it in the system. 1 piece per week?

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Ahhh..ok. I put mine in a QT tank first, more to get it saturated with saltwater than anything else. As far as cleaning....I just used a good, stiff nylon bristled brush or wire brush to clean the "crap" off of mine, should there be anything on it that I didn't want to introduce to the tank...rinse well and put it all in at once. No problems and now it's starting to coraline up. Dosing heavy on mag, calc and alk probably isn't hurting any either.

 

[misu]

just hose it off or pressure wash it, then soak it in some used saltwater


(wait to get a little warmer outside first)

 

[budsreef]

To me it depends on how clean you want it. For maximum, soak it in some bleach water for a day, rinse it well, soak it in fresh water with prime for a day, and then let it thouroughly dry for about a week. Then put it in a tub, do a water change from your tank and let it sit in that water with a powerhead and heater until it cycles then I think you could add it to your tank as much as you want. It will be very white and will probably go through a diatom stage once the light is on it but should be safe at that point.

Minimum, rinse/hose/scrub it and put it in a tub with a powerhead, heater and water from your existing tank and let it cycle.

 

[ricksconnected]

Budsreef;579776 wrote: Minimum, rinse/hose/scrub it and put it in a tub with a powerhead, heater and water from your existing tank and let it cycle.

ok bud, using your method, how long should it take to cycle?
would it even cycle? i mean we are only talking about 10 lbs of rock im wanting to use.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Rick...you can help it cycle. Might be able to do it in a week using Fritzyme (I think that's the correct spelling).

 

[ricksconnected]

yeah i know.
i just dont know if there is a real need to cycle these few rocks.

 

[markl]

How large is your tank?

 

[markl]

Budsreef;579776 wrote: To me it depends on how clean you want it. For maximum, soak it in some bleach water for a day, rinse it well, soak it in fresh water with prime for a day, and then let it thouroughly dry for about a week. Then put it in a tub, do a water change from your tank and let it sit in that water with a powerhead and heater until it cycles then I think you could add it to your tank as much as you want. It will be very white and will probably go through a diatom stage once the light is on it but should be safe at that point.

Minimum, rinse/hose/scrub it and put it in a tub with a powerhead, heater and water from your existing tank and let it cycle.

Thats what I would do .

 

[ricksconnected]

markl;579924 wrote: how large is your tank?

45